CentrePoint News News That Matters

By Sermon Index and Andrew Strom

“Men love to trust God (as they profess) for what they have in their
hands, in possession, or what lies in an easy view; place their
desires afar off, carry their accomplishment behind the clouds out of
their sight, interpose difficulties and perplexities — their hearts
are instantly sick. They cannot wait for God; they do not trust Him,
nor ever did. Would you have the presence of God with you? Learn to
wait quietly for the salvation you expect from Him.”
- John Owen (1616-1683)

“Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset; eternity to the
wicked is a night that has no sunrise.”
- Thomas Watson

“It is an undoubted truth that every doctrine that comes from God,
leads to God; and that which doth not tend to promote holiness is 
not of God.”  - George Whitefield

“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big
difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, 
over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
- Marion Wright Edelman.

“God always visits his people when they reach the point of desperation.”
- Stephen Olford

“Lock yourself in a room; throw the key away; do something! Seek 
God and be found of Him. That is His promise: “If you will seek for 
Me with all your heart and all your soul, you shall be found of Me”
(Deut. 4:29). When you do obtain that knowledge, maintain it, or 
else you will lose it.”
- Art Katz

“Humility is the key to the Kingdom”
- Art Katz.

“Put all your heart into what you do, or else put none of it in.”
- C.H. Spurgeon

For more on revival, click…

http://www.revivalschool.com/

http://www.revival-library.org/

http://cechome.com/

http://www.ligonier.org/

Posted under News

By Kimberly Smith

SUDAN (ANS) – There was a time in my life that I felt desperate to find meaning – something that made my existence deeper and larger in scale than the sum total of the average 77.7 years I might expect to be in this skin. In those days, I was always looking for adventure. It’s a curious thing how we often consider a person to be “free” and “live on the edge” simply because they pursue rock climbing, bungee jumping, hang gliding and all manner of life-risking adventure.

Suzanne. Assist photo.

Now, having just returned from Sudan where the temperatures soared above 140 degrees Fahrenheit, my mind is steeping in real stories of life-risking adventure from those who consider themselves anything but “free.” Like Suzanna, who told me, “I am nine.” I asked her, “How do you know you are nine? Who told you that you are nine?” With a smile that could lure the moon to linger with the sun all day long, she said, “One day I told myself, ‘You are nine.’ So, I am nine.”

Suzanna is an orphan. When she very small, Suzanna was forced to watch the Arab militia brutally kill both her parents. The militia burned her family home, a small round mud structure with a grass roof. Suzanna tried to hang out near the market hoping to survive off of scraps she could steal or beg from local merchants. Desperate with no shelter and little food, it seemed her best hope for survival was to be taken as a slave. Now, there is life on the edge – filled with lots of life-risking adventure.

Then, there was Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew that if he submitted to God’s plan, it would cost him his life.

For more, click here…

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09050157.htm

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By FEBC

FEBC IS EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT General Eun-gi Kim, former Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Air Force, assumed leadership of FEBC-Korea on January 1st. He replaced Dr. Billy Kim, who became FEBC-Korea’s Chairman of the Board after leading the ministry for 50 years. 

“General Kim is truly an answer to my prayers,” said Dr. Kim recently. “I am confident that his commitment, dedication, and leadership will be a great asset to the ministry.”

General Kim was raised in a Buddhist family, but accepted Christ as his Savior in 1984 during his studies at the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School.

For more, click here…

http://www.febc.org/resources/article_208.html

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Editor’s Note:  North Korea is a huge persecutor of Christians.  Hostilities on the Korean peninsula will obviously have a major impact on the region and on the state of the church in both of those nations. 

By CTV

South Korean and U.S. troops were on high alert Thursday after the reclusive North Korean regime signalled its unwillingness to co-operate with international demands to dismantle its nuclear program.

The isolationist nation said it was preparing for an American-led attack and would meet any hostility with “merciless” and dangerous ferocity.

“The northward invasion scheme by the U.S. and the South Korean puppet regime has exceeded the alarming level,” the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary on Thursday.

“A minor accidental skirmish can lead to a nuclear war.”

For more, click here…

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090528/ korea_threats_090528/20090528?hub=World

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By Janey DeMeo

VISTA, CA (ANS) – When my husband Louis and myself left France in 2003 after 22 years of missions and church-planting, we felt satisfied that our efforts to expose the increasingly outrageous attacks on religious liberty had not been in vain. Ambiguously drafted bills placing Christians in precarious situations were held abet, no doubt because France received international pressure spearheaded by the Helsinki Commission and the US Congress.

But today, disturbing news arises from France and it looks as if religious freedom is again in jeopardy. Christians may soon find themselves targeted and labeled as cults—much as they were in 1995.

A recent government report entitled “La justice face aux derives sectaires” (best translated as “Justice with Regard to Sect or Cult Abuse”) apparently provides a dangerous platform to restrict religious freedom because of its confusing criteria which opens a door for subjective interpretation on what a cult might actually look like.

For more, click here…

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09050141.htm

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By Christian Today

Britain may be in the midst of its worst economic downturn in decades, but that hasn’t stopped Share Jesus International from blanketing the capital in hundreds of events all aimed at bringing the church out of the building and into the heart of the city.

Thousands of people are expected to take part in the six-day long Pentecost Festival, and its diverse programme of music, dance, art exhibitions, lectures, comedy, sports and film.

The vision for the festival came from the late Rob Frost, founder of Share Jesus International, who felt God was calling him to “make a festival I would want to come to”. The vision was carried on after his death by his son and successor at Share Jesus, Andy Frost. The inaugural Pentecost Festival was held last year and drew more than 10,000 people to events across the city.

For more, click here…

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/pentecost.festival.shines. a.light.amid.the.recession/23449.htm

Posted under News

By Katherine Cason, Christian Newswire

Posted under News

By Michelle A. Vu

Nearly 30 years after “The Jesus Film’s” debut, the ministry that created the most translated movie in history is working to develop more sophisticated tools to reach western and highly developed countries.

“We are going to make probably more effort because we don’t have the equipment, tools and resources that are really speaking well to the first world and the media sophisticated, the U.S. and Europe,” said Greg Gregoire, senior associate at The Jesus Film Project, to The Christian Post.

“So we are going to spend a little more focus on developing tools that work there,” he said, noting countries and cities such as Berlin, Singapore, and Los Angeles.

Since “The Jesus Film” debuted in English on Oct. 19, 1979, it has been translated into 1,055 languages and has been seen by more than 6 billion people from every country in the world. Out of the billions of people that have seen the film, there are a recorded 225 million that have indicated a decision for Christ.

For more, click here…

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090526/jesus-film-to-target-                                     more-sophisticated-countries/index.html

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By Geraldine Fagan

The appointment of renowned “anti-cultists” and controversial scholars of Islam to a Russian government body allocated sweeping powers to investigate religious organisations may prove the heaviest blow to religious freedom in a decade, Forum 18 News Service notes. The newly-reconstituted Expert Council for Conducting State Religious-Studies Analysis attached to the Justice Ministry now has wide-ranging powers to investigate the activity, doctrines, leadership decisions, literature and worship of any registered religious organisation and recommend action to the Ministry. Two months after the Council’s initial meeting, however, the full impact of the body is not yet clear.

So far, those seeking to restrict certain religious minorities through the state apparatus have mainly done so by proposing laws. Even if successful – as in part with the 1997 Religion Law – restrictions depend upon the state’s willingness to implement laws in the way their lobbyists hoped. Now, for the first time on the federal level since the end of the Soviet period, such people have been directly appointed to a state religious-affairs body.

For more, click here…

http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1299

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By CNN

BEIJING, China (CNN) – Unregistered churches are attracting millions of worshippers in China, exposing an enduring rift between the government and the Vatican.

China broke off relations with the Vatican under Chairman Mao but over the past couple of years ties seemed to be warming up.

A state-controlled church is popular, but the underground parishioners say it is not the real church. From the state’s perspective, these believers are loyal to the pope, not the Communist Party.

For more, click here…

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/25/china.                                 church/#cnnSTCText

Posted under News